POULSBO — The Vikings started their district tournament run on the right foot Saturday.
Playing in front of the home crowd, North Kitsap blitzed its first round opponent, Franklin Pierce, 6-0 to move within one win of qualifying for the 2A state tournament.
Senior forward Charlotte Bond pumped home four goals and added an assist to send her team to a winner-to-state game 7 p.m. Tuesday against Fife at Franklin Pierce.
“You could just tell the way we were playing, the way we were attacking, everything was working great,” said North Kitsap head coach Greg St. Peter.
Bond opened the scoring in the 15th minute, tucking away a shot after taking a pass from teammate Audrey Zinn. Five minutes later, her corner kick found the head of Grace Billings to give North Kitsap a 2-0 lead. She scored her second goal of the game after crashing the net and picking up a feed from Sarah Hamilton and completed the hat trick on a feed from Kamora McMillian. Her fourth goal of the match came on a penalty kick.
Freshman forward Fia Jagodzinske scored her first varsity goal on a pretty shot to the upper left corner of the net to close out the scoring.
The Vikings have a big senior class with some unfinished business in the postseason. Last season, with a district title within their grasp, they dropped a tough 1-0 game to Sequim. If they beat Fife on Tuesday, they would face the winner of the Eatonville-White River game for a chance to capture that elusive district championship on Saturday, Nov. 9.
“[The Sequim game] is really sticking in my mind, “St. Peter said. “That would be cool for this big senior class to get that accomplishment, it’d be great. That’s a big goal of ours.”
North Kitsap has also been eliminated in consecutive years in the 2A state quarterfinals by Liberty. Getting to Shoreline Stadium for the final four this year is also on the to-do list for this senior class.
“We’re definitely hoping to get past that little hump,” Bond said. “I know we can do it, we all know how we can play.”
North Kitsap 6, Franklin Pierce 0
FP 0 0 — 0
NK 2 4 — 6
First half — NK, Charlotte Bond (Audrey Zinn), 15th; NK, Grace Billings (Bond), 20th.
Second half — NK, Bond (Sarah Hamilton), 41st; NK, Bond (Kamora McMillian), 53rd; NK, Bond (penalty kick), 60th; NK, Fia Jagodzinske (Elizabeth Kimmel), 78th.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.
